The Charity Commission is investigating two Harrow-based charities for “significant discrepancies” in the charities' incomes and financial management.
In a statement released this morning, the Charity Commission confirmed that it opened investigations into The Light and The Fatimiyya Trust on June 27 and July 1 2014 respectively.
The investigation was to “examine regulatory concerns including concerns about significant discrepancies” in the charities' income and expenditure, when compared “against the income and expenditure figures published” in the accounts.
The Commission began the investigations in the summer of 2014, but they were not able to “engage with the trustees/charity” until March 2015, due to the involvement of another, unnamed agency.
The investigations into the two charities also examine the accuracy of financial account reporting, whether the trustees of the two charities complied with their legal duties and general governance.
According to the charity register, The Light has filed four of its last five set of financial accounts with the Commission late, including its most recent set of accounts that are currently 268 days late.
The Fatimiyya Trust has also been late with four of its last five sets of accounts, including its most recent set of accounts which are 208 days late.
According to the last set of published accounts, The Light had an income of £408,611 and spending of £407,097. The Fatimiyya Trust had an income of £162,250 and spending of £169,911.
Both state charitable objectives of “the betterment of humanity/community”. The Light claims to operate throughout England and Wales as well as in Iraq and Pakistan, while the Fatimiyya Trust operates throughout London and Pakistan.
The Light is based in Wembley, while the Fatimiyya Trust is based in Harrow, a distance of around 1.4 miles apart.
When asked by Civil Society Media whether the investigations were linked, a spokesman confirmed they were but said that the charities were separate, as were the statutory enquiries.
Both The Light and the Fatimiyya Trust were contacted by Civil Society News looking for a comment but had not provided one by the time the article went to press.
